Why Infographics Work

infographics and brainInfographics have been a trend in internet marketing since the early 2000s, so it stands to reason their popularity must be fading, right?

Wrong.

Sure, we’ve reached a point where they’re being abused, either as clickbait or by companies who are just using them because they’re trendy. But used properly, infographics are still an effective way to convey data. The key is to be sure you’re actually providing info in your infographic.

Tips for making effective infographics

  • Be sure you’re sharing information that is important to your audience.
  • Keep text as simple as possible.
  • Always cite your sources.

Why are infographics effective?

In a world where the average adult’s attention span is a mere 8 seconds, text that’s accompanied by visuals tends to catch the eye more than plain text. In fact, statistics show that people are 30 times more likely to read an infographic than a text article.

Aside from the fact that infographics look more exciting than their plain-text brethren, there’s some actual science behind their effectiveness. Research shows that our brains process visual content 60,000 times faster than it processes textual content. Maybe that’s why they say a picture is worth a thousand words?

An experiment

While the text of this blog post includes more useful information than the infographic to the right, a couple of the same statistics are shared in both. Which did you read first?

Jason Janoski

Jason Janoski

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6 Comments

  1. Jayne on at 5:28 pm

    Truthfully, I saw that Jason had written the text so was trying to concentrate on just the words. I was distracted by the graphics so was sort of reading them at the same time.
    A little back & forth that caused some vertigo.



  2. Jason Janoski on at 5:35 pm

    Sorry for the vertigo, but at least you were distracted enough by the infographic that you kept looking at it!



  3. Nick on at 8:13 am

    Thanks for sharing! Two great stats in this post as to why infographics are such a valuable marketing tool:
    1. “People are 30 times more likely to read an infographic than a text article”
    2. “The brain processes visuals 60,000 times faster than it processes text”



  4. Jen on at 10:49 am

    Hmmmm, I actually read the text first. Does that mean I’m old?!? 🙂



  5. Jason Janoski on at 11:13 am

    Thanks for commenting, Nick! And we know YOU understand the value of infographics!



  6. Jason Janoski on at 11:16 am

    Jen, it probably just means you like words. And there’s nothing wrong with that!



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